Saturday November 24th and Sunday November 25th
11:00am-12:30pm and 2:00pm-3:30pm
This November, Tortoise is thrilled to welcome back the celebrated Japanese ceramist, Masanobu Ando. Our last exhibition with Ando was in September 2014.
Living in Tajimi, Japan – in Gifu prefecture – Ando creates ceramic pieces that are atypical of traditional ceramic ware. Known for rejecting the use of the wheel, Ando practices a technique called tatara, a technique where sheets of clay are molded together into a single, solid shape. His glazing technique also creates a surface with a metallic-like appearance resembling silver rather than clay, with some of his sculptural pieces evoking rusted pipes or sheets of steel.
The image above shows Ando's gallery 'Momogusa' and examples of his ceramic work. The exhibition pieces Ando will bring in November will be similar to the ones shown in the images, but not exactly the same.
In addition to his renowned ceramic work, Ando is a certified Japanese tea master, and has been studying the art of Chinese Tea to supplement his knowledge of Japanese tea making, which is why we are delighted to announce that Ando has agreed to host 3 ceremonies at Tortoise focusing on Chinese tea. For the ceremony, Ando will use his own ceramic tools made exclusively for this event.
Ando's ceremonies will take place Thanksgiving weekend. We hope you can join us.
Tea Ceremonies:
Saturday November 24th / 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Sunday November 25th / 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Sunday November 25th / 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Each tea ceremony is limited to 8 people with 6 being the minimum to participate - tickets will be $50 per seat. The ceremony will showcase 2 types of Chinese tea - 1 variety from Japan that is Ando's choice and 1 variety from a tea shop owned by a long time customer of Tortoise, SonWu Tea. Two different kinds of sweets complimenting the tea experience will be served during the ceremony.
Made exclusively for these 3 sessions with Ando, Ando's tea ceremony related tools will be available for purchase. Other sculptural and houseware pieces by Ando will also be available, in addition to some special textile created by Ando's wife Akiko, a skilled textile artist who will also be present at the ceremony. Akiko's handmade 'oshibori' tea towels will also be available for purchase at the event.
We will not hold Ando's purchased pieces for the duration of the exhibition, so customers will be able to take home their pieces right away. Please be sure to see these pieces before they are gone!
Tickets for the tea ceremony can be purchased here on our online shop.
Please contact us for any further questions!
